Agroecius or Agroetius was an ancient Gaul who was bishop of Sens. [1] He was also a grammarian, and the author of an extant work in Latin, De Orthographia et Differentia Sermonis, intended as a supplement to a work on the same subject by Flavius Caper. It was composed around 450, [2] and dedicated to the bishop Eucherius of Lyon, who apparently had earlier given Agroecius a copy of Caper's work. [3] He is supposed to have lived in the middle of the 5th century. His work is reprinted in Putschius' Grammaticae Latinae Auctores Antiqui, pp. 2266–2275. [4]
Agroecius was the addressee of one extant letter from Sidonius Apollinaris, who sought Agroecius' aid in the dispute over who would inherit the vacant bishop's see in Bourges in 470 (Agroecius indeed traveled to Bourges to render his assistance); [5] and he is probably alluded to (although not named) in another of Apollinaris' letters, which speaks of a bishop of great eloquence and learning. [1] [6] There was also at that time a bishop "Agrycius", the addressee of a letter of Salvian apologizing for his disrespectful behavior, who is generally taken to be this Agroecius. [5]
Agroecius was possibly a descendant of the rhetorician Censorius Atticus. [7]
Majorian, was the Western Roman emperor from 457 to 461. A prominent commander in the Western military, Majorian deposed Avitus in 457 with the aid of his ally Ricimer. Possessing little more than Italy, Dalmatia, as well as some territory in Hispania and northern Gaul, Majorian campaigned rigorously for three years against the Empire's enemies. In 461, he was murdered at Dertona in a conspiracy, and his successors until the Fall of the Empire in 476 were puppets either of barbarian generals or the Eastern Roman court.
Aetius was a Roman general and statesman of the closing period of the Western Roman Empire. He was a military commander and the most influential man in the Empire for two decades (433–454). He managed policy in regard to the attacks of barbarian federates settled throughout the West. Notably, he mustered a large Roman and allied (foederati) army in the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains, ending a devastating invasion of Gaul by Attila in 451, though the Hun and his subjugated allies still managed to invade Italy the following year, an incursion best remembered for the ruthless Sack of Aquileia and the intercession of Pope Leo I.
Procopius Anthemius was the Western Roman emperor from 467 to 472. Born in the Eastern Roman Empire, Anthemius quickly worked his way up the ranks. He married into the Theodosian dynasty through Marcia Euphemia, daughter of Eastern emperor Marcian. He soon received a significant number of promotions to various posts, and was presumed to be Marcian's planned successor. However, Marcian's sudden death in 457, together with that of Western emperor Avitus, left the imperial succession in the hands of Aspar, who instead appointed a low-ranking officer known as Leo to the Eastern throne out of fear that Anthemius would be too independent. Eventually, this same Leo would designate Anthemius as Western emperor in 467, following a two-year interregnum that started in 465.
Eparchius Avitus was Roman emperor of the West from July 455 to October 456. He was a senator of Gallic extraction and a high-ranking officer both in the civil and military administration, as well as Bishop of Piacenza.
Gaius Sollius Modestus Apollinaris Sidonius, better known as Sidonius Apollinaris, was a poet, diplomat, and bishop. Born into the Gallo-Roman aristocracy, he was son-in-law to Emperor Avitus and was appointed Urban prefect of Rome by Emperor Anthemius in 468. In 469 he was appointed Bishop of Clermont and he led the defence of the city from Euric, King of the Visigoths, from 473 to 475. He retained his position as bishop after the city's conquest, until his death in the 480s. He is venerated as a saint in the Catholic church, the Orthodox Church, and the True Orthodox Church, with his feast day on 21 August.
Salvian was a Christian writer of the 5th century in Roman Gaul.
Riothamus was a Romano-British military leader, who was active circa AD 470. He fought against the Goths in alliance with the declining Western Roman Empire. He is called "King of the Britons" by the 6th-century historian Jordanes, but the extent of his realm is unclear. Some Arthurian scholars identify Riothamus as one of the possible sources of the legendary King Arthur.
Magnus Felix Ennodius was Bishop of Pavia in 514, and a Latin rhetorician and poet.
Remigius was the Bishop of Reims and "Apostle of the Franks". On 25 December 496, he baptised Clovis I, King of the Franks. The baptism, leading to about 3000 additional converts, was an important event in the Christianization of the Franks. Because of Clovis's efforts, a large number of churches were established in the formerly pagan lands of the Frankish empire, establishing a distinct Catholic variety of Christianity for the first time in Germanic lands, most of whom had been converted to Arian Christianity.
Eucherius was a high-born and high-ranking ecclesiastic in the Christian church in Roman Gaul. He is remembered for his letters advocating extreme self-abnegation. From 439, he served as Archbishop of Lyon, and Henry Wace ranked him "the most distinguished occupant of that see" after Irenaeus. He is venerated as a saint within the Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Church.
Tonantius Ferreolus, was a vir clarissimus, or Gallo-Roman senator.
Decimus Rusticus of Treves and Lyon (Lugdunum) was a Master of the Offices and the praetorian prefect of Gaul between 409 and 410 or 413. He was one of those responsible for the withdrawal from Britannia.
Tonantius Ferreolus was the praetorian prefect of Gaul from 451.
Magnus was a Roman senator of Narbonne. He was appointed Roman consul in 460 by the Western emperor Majorian, at the same time Apollonius served in the East. Magnus also served as praetorian prefect of Gaul around the same time.
Agroecius was the name of a number of men from Roman history, most of them distinguished Gauls:
Agroecius was a 6th-century bishop of Antibes, and the addressee of one of the extant letters of the ecclesiastic Caesarius of Arles.
Gennadius Avienus was an influential politician of the Western Roman Empire. He was consul in 450, alongside Valentinian III. In 452, he was an envoy to Attila; together with Pope Leo I and Trigetius he successfully negotiated a truce. He had a son and a daughter; his son would go on to be consul in 490.
Flavius Severinus was a Senator and a politician of the Western Roman Empire.
Apollinaris was a count of Auvergne who led a auvergnat army for the Visigoths in the Battle of Vouillé, and was bishop of Clermont for four months before his death.
Saint Euphronius of Autun was a bishop of Autun between 450 and 490. According to Dom Basil Watkins OSB, Euphronius "was one of the greatest bishops of Gaul..."in the 5th century.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain : Smith, William, ed. (1870). "Agroecius". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology .